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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29874630">Semantics</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stalactice/pseuds/stalactice'>stalactice</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, My First Work in This Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:20:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,828</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29874630</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stalactice/pseuds/stalactice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sesshoumaru was not one to let semantics be tossed aside, especially when he was right. Kagome, on the other hand, was not one to let something as silly as semantics get in the way of her point.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Semantics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first piece for this fandom, so I hope I've done the characters justice. Please forgive any mistakes I've made. Thank you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The noise was incessant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just admit that you want to go after her, Inuyasha, instead of moping around—!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I ain’t moping, dammit! Naraku’s just more important than your pride, Kagome—!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>My </span>
  </em>
  <span>pride?! That’s rich coming from the guy who won’t admit he still has feelings for a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead girl</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From there, the volley of insults gave way to shouting that—even with his superior hearing—Sesshoumaru had to concentrate to distinguish words from guttural, border-animalistic noises. For his sanity, he gave it up as a fool’s errand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rin flopped on her back on a patch of grass at Sesshoumaru’s feet. She groaned in the back of her throat, “How long do they do this, again?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The taijiya sighed and sank onto her haunches, turning her attention to polishing Hiraikotsu. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The monk offered, “Better settle in for a while, kid,” and scooted farther under the shade of the canopy. He lounged against the yellow monstrosity the miko carried on their journeys.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rin-chan,” the kitsune kit began as he stood before her and Sesshoumaru, “most Inuyasha-Kagome arguments last for this much of daylight.” He spread his arms the width of his slight shoulders and pointed at the sky slightly to the east. “That’s when they started.” His finger followed the crest of the sun’s trajectory westward until it landed a kit’s distance from the initial point. “And that’s when they’ll probably finish.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rin made another sound of annoyance, only for it to cut off like a strangled chicken. “What if they end up arguing at nighttime? How do you tell, then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t,” the three other members of the hanyou’s party chorused with long-suffered weariness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The taijiya twisted her face into a visage of contemplation. She added, “If they don’t end up arguing all night, they won’t speak to each other for a day and a half or—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or Inuyasha says something insensitive,” the monk interjected, ignoring the sardonic snorts from the taijiya and kitsune, “and Kagome goes home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t forget the </span>
  <em>
    <span>osuwari</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” the kit added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rin frowned, bemused. She cocked her head to the side (Sesshoumaru could not believe that position was comfortable) and inquired, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Osuwari</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inuyasha’s voice echoed among the trees, “Just where do you think you’re going?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Home!” the miko barked in return. She stomped over to the monk and yanked her bag by a strap out from behind his back. The monk, unfazed by the events, adjusted his weight against the tree to account for the loss of his prop.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru watched a curious splotching of crimson and cream crawl up the miko’s neck while her nostrils flared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His brother easily trotted to head off her progression. “How?” he demanded. “You won’t make it to the well before dark, Kagome, and you know it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Well?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Sesshoumaru thought sharply. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What purpose does a well serve? There is plenty of water to last this party for the next two days.</span>
  </em>
  <span> While the dynamic between the miko and his brother was of no consequence to him, Sesshoumaru did take offense to the absolute egregious amount of time, energy, and daylight a squabble such as this spoiled. Even with their shorter strides, Rin and Jaken would have advanced farther on foot than the current group. To squander so fecklessly resources for the sake of a petty argument was unforgivable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko clenched her jaw, hoisted her bag onto her shoulders, and spat, “Watch me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inuyasha flinched at her tone, but recovered and set his mouth in a resolute line. “Agh!” he yanked his hair at the root. His voice shifted into a snarl, “Ya know, for someone who claims not to be like her, you and Kikyou both take stubbornness to a whole new level!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The air in the glade stilled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Interest piqued, Rin sat up to get a better view of the entanglement. Jaken tittered excitedly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There it is,” the kit muttered with a shake of his head and curled up next to the nekomata.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The monk let out a low whistle. “A doozy, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While Sesshoumaru’s interactions with members of the opposite sex were limitted to politics and brief (incredibly awkward) romantic interludes, he had enough survival instinct to recognize his brother’s misstep. With a sliver of morbid fascination, Sesshoumaru observed the color drain from Inuyasha’s face and caught a whiff of the miko’s sweat turning from neutral to acrid.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hanyou closed his eyes and sighed in resignation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko spittled into his face as she brushed past him. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>O-su-wa-ri</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inuyasha plummeted into the earth head-first with a garbled screech.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru followed the clunking of the miko’s trodden steps with one ear while the other listened to Rin’s coos of innocent awe and fascination at Inuyasha’s prostrate form. “So </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> what you mean by </span>
  <em>
    <span>osuwari</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she said, poking a twitching white ear with a twig.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inuyasha groaned into the ground of his body-shaped crater.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, Shippou-chan!” Rin chirped. She skipped over to the kitsune and pointed directly at the sun. “They finished sooner than you said they would. What now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a tone emulating the wisdom of a sage far older than he, the kitsune stated, “We wait.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of Inuyasha’s arms appeared over the edge of the crater, and the other followed soon after. He gasped as he heaved himself up to level ground and rolled onto his back. “Keh,” he wheezed in a sarcastic tone, “thanks for the help calming her down, guys. Always nice to know you have my back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The taijiya huffed, “That one was your fault. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Again</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How is it always </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> fault?!” Inuyasha demanded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The monk and kitsune simultaneously chimed in, “Because you’re an idiot.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru observed the conversation. It was an exchange of words that seemed so familiar to those four it could have been a religious call and response. He could only conclude that these spats between the hanyou and the miko were more frequent than their team implied when their alliance first formed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru cut in bluntly, “With intervals between arguments this short, brother, it is truly a miracle that you and the miko managed to collect any shards since you met.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inuyasha snapped his legs out and kipped to stand. He brushed and patted debris off his robe. “Say what you mean, Sesshoumaru,” he demanded, glaring up through narrowed eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A challenge glowed there—an obvious goad into a spar. Sesshoumaru, however, was in no mood.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His gaze snapped to Rin. Her line of sight traveled the direction in which the miko had stormed off. Her brows furrowed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru languidly strode away from Inuyasha. He draped mokomoko over one shoulder and around the opposite hip, silently beckoning Rin, Jaken, and A-Un to follow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why does everyone keep walking away today, huh?!” Inuyasha bayed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The one will return before dark.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rin exclaimed, “Rin will find berries to share with Shippou-chan, too!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The kitsune made a noise of elation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They proceeded at a leisurely pace for several minutes before Rin prodded, “Sesshoumaru-sama?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hummed in acknowledgement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She laced her fingers behind her and rocked her head side to side. “You should talk with Kagome-san,” she said. “Help her feel better.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He arched an eyebrow in her direction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jaken panted as he attempted to match Rin’s strides, “Sesshoumaru-sama </span>
  <em>
    <span>heh</span>
  </em>
  <span> does not need </span>
  <em>
    <span>heh</span>
  </em>
  <span> to comfort </span>
  <em>
    <span>heh</span>
  </em>
  <span> the female human.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rin knows, Jaken-sama,” she grumbled. “But...when Rin felt bad, Sesshoumaru-sama helped. And,” she peered over her shoulder, “Inuyasha-san is not coming.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru could not fault her observation. Apologies were never his nor the hanyou’s fortes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Sesshoumaru-sama?” she entreated with wide eyes and (damn it all) a puckered lower lip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Un bumped Sesshoumaru’s shoulder with the side of his head and nickered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru exhaled, exasperation warming in his veins, “This one will speak to the miko alone.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>He found the miko sitting cross-legged in the dirt beneath an old momi fir tree a short distance from a gentle stream, muttering to herself as she scribbled with her finger in the dirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her words appeared to be a continuous diatribe to the effect of: “Inuyasha, that moron, always says the stupidest shit, how dare he compare me to her after everything, he doesn’t own me, I outta </span>
  <em>
    <span>osuwari</span>
  </em>
  <span> him into the next century—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Sesshoumaru heard Inuyasha yowl and curse in the distance.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She only ceased her tirade when his boots entered her periphery. “Se-</span>
  <em>
    <span>sshou</span>
  </em>
  <span>-maru!” her voice cracked. With a wince she grumbled, “Way to go, Kagome,” followed by a hastily whispered, “I’m so, so, so, so sorry,” more to herself than him. She cleared her throat. “Umm...what can I do for you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He peered down his nose at her handiwork—a crude drawing of the miko shooting arrows at his brother’s...Sesshoumaru determined they were supposed to be pertinent equipment, but the highly exaggerated size would certainly make running, youkai or not, impossible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had enough decency to look mortified, and scuffed her foot across the drawing to dispose of any evidence. “You don’t have to tell Inuyasha about that, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru avoided her question in favor of stating evenly, “Rin informed this one that you might wish to talk.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko gaped and closed her mouth several times, and only ceased her efforts when a mosquito drifted in by mistake and triggered the gag reflex. She beat against her chest and coughed the insect’s carcass onto the dirt. Her lips pulled back into a grimace, adding lamely, “Sorry...I’m not usually this gross.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He remained silent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Umm…,” she trailed off. Her head snapped to and fro before she decided to shift to her left and motioned for him to take a seat in the newly vacated spot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru stepped over the mosquito carnage and settled next to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The line of her shoulders was a taught chord and stiff; her posture much straighter than typical. Despite this, she managed to gulp over the tightly coiled knot at the base of her throat. “So, what do you want to talk about?” she asked, tone evasive.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He leveled her with a flat stare. “It was not this one that recently argued with the hanyou and pitched him deep into the earth.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko propped her elbow on one of her knees and dropped her head into her palm. “Nope,” she popped the end of the syllable with her lips. A weary sigh escaped her. “No, that would be me,” she admitted. “I mean,” she lifted her head again, laughing in bewilderment, “of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course</span>
  </em>
  <span> it was me. Whenever the topic of,” she bristled and huffed as though a curse, “Kikyou comes up,” she jerked her thumb against her sternum, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> the one that gets blamed because…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes swung wildly to meet his, and Sesshoumaru nodded for her to continue.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Because</span>
  </em>
  <span>—,” she tried again, but to no avail as tears surged over the dam of her eyelids. In a hoarse, whispered voice, she concluded, “Because he loves her, and I couldn’t be here if she were still alive…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Sesshoumaru had a chance to react, she had a hold of his empty sleeve and attempted to hide the waves of her emotions in the fabric. Had he known this would happen when he agreed to Rin’s plea, he would have at the very least brought a cloth from A-Un’s saddlebag to take the brunt of this abuse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is natural for unrequited…”—Sesshoumaru nipped the tip of his tongue between his front teeth, knowing that ‘follies’ would only inflame the situation and ‘affections’ would likely trigger another onslaught of tears—”...sentiments to sting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He caught a glimpse of Rin hidden behind a collection of bushes, nodding enthusiastically and waving her hands in a gesture he could only assume was encouragement to continue. Jaken’s smaller form dashed from a nearby tree and tackled Rin to the ground, hissing something to the effect of ‘Sesshoumaru-sama needs no direction from you or me concerning—’ before A-Un body slammed their two cohorts farther upstream with heavy huffs and grunts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If the miko noticed his party’s failed attempts at stealth, she made no comment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were days that Sesshoumaru contemplated if the circumstances in which he found himself were part of some grand cosmic jest against him. Before he humored the whims of the sword his father bequeathed him, he and Jaken had—dare he say it?—in the hanyou’s words ‘a good thing going’; an enigmatic riddle here, a curse against Toutousai for the remainder of eternity there. Then Tenseiga started getting ideas, and Rin with her gap-toothed smile and perplexing hair burrowed under his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>These events somehow snowballed, leading to his current predicament: his brother’s miko venting her frustrations through a bewildering combination of snarls and blubbers into the empty sleeve of his kimono. His gaze honed on the dark stain from her tears as it bled up the fabric. Thankfully, tears were easy to clean, and he supposed the kimono had survived far worse in the heat of battle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko reared her head back from his sleeve and sniffed sonorously to prevent, albeit futilely, a stream of snot from cascading from her nose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru was certain he would have preferred blood to mucus on his person at that moment. Thankfully, the miko had enough wherewithal to cup her hand under her chin before snot splattered on his sleeve.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She released her vice grip on the hem, and scooted on her bottom around the base of the trunk to her bag. Her arm disappeared into its fathomless depths of the bag and retrieved a uniformly translucent and threadbare piece of cloth—or perhaps paper—that could have passed for a handkerchief. She dabbed at the snot that had pooled at her cupid’s bow and had coagulated around the rims of her nostrils.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She cleared her throat and rasped, “It’s okay. You can call it a dumb crush. I know it is.” Returning to her spot next to him, she sighed in sotto voce, “I never learn…Always going to be second string.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru focused beyond the bushes to find Rin sopping wet and stomping back to her initial hiding spot with A-Un a few paces behind; an unconscious Jaken draped limply around Un’s neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This one is not familiar with your use of the verb ‘crush,’” he said. “You use it as a noun, which is incorrect.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blue eyes framed in a black halo of eyelashes clumped with tears blinked up at him for a second, then two, before her hand shot to her mouth to muffle (again, futilely) an undignified snort. The longer he stared at her, the less effective her attempts to smother her humor proved.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Was this human </span>
  <em>
    <span>laughing</span>
  </em>
  <span> at him? Or perhaps at what he had said?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru turned his attention back to Rin. He could only call her expression ‘elated’ as her lips pulled into a crooked, gap-toothed grin and she began to hop on the balls of her feet. This did not answer any of his questions, though, as the miko’s laughter grew louder in his ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko clutched her sides as her laughs blurred into wheezes. “I’m sorry,” she attempted breathily. “It’s just your </span>
  <em>
    <span>face</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” her voice strained and, as though it proved something, pointed with a shaking hand at his cheek.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A growl rumbled low in his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko promptly lost her senses completely and collapsed on her side, eyes squeezed shut with tears of mirth pricking at the corners, breath shallow and interlaced with hiccups, and mouth slung open in a beaming smile. Sesshoumaru could only deduce that this was a manifestation of her grief for her mere fledgling attempt at romance with his brother. It sounded like an affliction that would plague humans. (Perhaps it was contagious, too. He would need to watch for the warning signs with Rin.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Miko,” he droned, unamused. “Out of respect for our arrangement as allies this one will refrain from reminding you how this one does not typically suffer the barbs of humans.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gasped for a gulp of air, shaking her head. “Noted, but,” she coughed, “you’ve got it wrong.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He blinked indolently and slightly cocked his head to the right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pushed against the ground to sit against the tree once more,”It’s just, of all the things for you to ask me, especially after,” she lifted his empty sleeve with both hands to unnecessarily reveal the tear stain and grimaced, “well, this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hn,” he acknowledged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, I would have half expected you to go,” she puffed out her chest and pitched her voice low, “‘the hanyou has never been known for his intelligence’ or ‘he handles women the same way he handles Tessaiga.’”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He comes by his imbecility from </span>
  <em>
    <span>chichiue</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She smirked. “I take it that’s a family trait that didn’t pass to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hummed. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hahaue</span>
  </em>
  <span> was always regarded as the sharper of the pair.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a knowing look she asked, “Is this according to your mother or official record?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who is this one to contradict her?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She exaggerated a bark of laughter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This one takes issue with your other impression.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An anticipatory gleam lit in her eyes. “Oh, you do?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Indeed. This one would rather say the hanyou hacks with Tessaiga than handles it and,” he clicked his tongue, “it is doubtful you would care to say that Inuyasha hacks either at you or the dead miko.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, probably not.” With a casual wave of her hand, she added, “But your comment made me feel a lot better and </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe</span>
  </em>
  <span> a little silly so…” She cast her sight to mokomoko resting in his lap and lightly bit her lower lip. “Thank you,” she whispered as a flush bloomed across her cheeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru inclined his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she made no point to continuing their brief conversation, he considered the encounter closed and, if Rin’s content humming echoing off the tree boughs was any indication, a success. With practiced poise, he tucked his feet under himself and pressed to a stand, adjusting mokomoko to lay more securely on his shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She piped up as he took his first step in Rin’s direction, “By the way, where I come from, ‘crush’ can be used as a noun, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru stalled and scoffed, “Ludicrous.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She made a noise of indignation. He heard her scramble to her feet and dart after him as he continued his amble through the forest. The bag </span>
  <em>
    <span>thwacked</span>
  </em>
  <span> against her back with each step she took. “It’s true!” she said, pivoting on her heel to face him and walk backwards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you insist.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-Well,” she hissed as she caught her heel on a root, “if you think about it, even the same language can be so different from person to person. Look at you and Inuyasha.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He retorted easily, “Diction is not a basis for what is correct. One can hardly count his speech as proper.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah-ha! So, you admit they’re different!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Diction was never up for discussion,” he explained coolly. “Your use of ‘crush’—which you have yet to define or defend—is what you question on the subject of semantics.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko placed her hands on hips, making the bag on her back appear even larger. Spinning about-face, she accused, “You’re just hiding behind pretty words because you know I’m right.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been at least four hundred years since Sesshoumaru had the impulse to stick his tongue out at someone’s back. He would bestow that honor to Jaken later after the imp recovered from his tumble in the stream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru straightened to his full height. “If this one were in the habit of subterfuge,” he said, careful to enunciate each syllable, “it would not be because you proved yourself correct.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blue eyes danced for the split second she looked back at him. “So you insist,” she parroted haughtily.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He casually waved in A-Un’s direction to return with Rin and Jaken to camp. “You still have not defined it,” he said, slowing his pace so that she kept even with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, right!” She tapped her chin and tilted her face to the heavens, a deep pink of midsummer evening. As minutes of silence stretched forward, he half-expected that she forgot mid-thought. However, she punctuated a revelation with a snap of her fingers. “A crush, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>noun</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she emphasized as though he were nothing but a child, “is similar to love, but not nearly as intense. But,” her hands darted around her person as she elaborated, counting things on her fingers, “it has a lot of the same symptoms: butterflies in the stomach, heart racing, difficulty breathing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have also listed the same symptoms as many fevers.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you want an explanation or not?” she demanded. He nodded. “Crushes...are a lot easier than love, I think. You can lose a crush from one day to the next; love endures and all that jazz.” She wetted her lips. “So I guess you would call a crush a simple romantic sentiment that hasn’t grown into anything more.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sesshoumaru prodded, “And this is what you use to define your relationship with the hanyou?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shrugged with a dejected air and admitted, “I guess so...but I’m no expert.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another question niggled at the end of his tongue when Rin, mounted on A-Un, surged forward to fall in step with the miko. “Kagome-san!” she exclaimed. Twigs and pine needles protruded from the nest of her hair as she cradled blueberries in her arms and the obi of her damp kimono. “Are you still mad at Inuyasha-san?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko gasped, but switched to nervous laughter the moment Rin’s face fell. “I think I still am,” she confessed. “Just a little bit. Don’t worry, though.” She grinned and gently tapped the child’s nose. “We always work it out. Right, Sesshoumaru?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now he was convinced she was laughing at him, even if simply in her mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rin exhaled, seemingly reassured. She jostled the berries in her arms and smiled shyly, “Do you wanna have some berries with Rin and Shippou?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds amazing! But first,” she plucked a twig from Rin’s hair, “how about we clean some of this up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rin considered this compromise for several seconds. “Okay!” she decided, then in her excitement added, “Faster, A-Un!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? No, wait! Rin!” the miko squawked, holding tight to Rin’s hand and A-Un’s saddle as the dragon accelerated. To her credit, she held on longer than Sesshoumaru anticipated, but if she arrived at camp with as much as a scratch, the hanyou would give him grief for the rest of the journey.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wrapped his arm around her waist and deposited her on A-Un’s back, riding sidesaddle. It was the rational thing to do, lest she be dragged along the forest floor. (The yellow monstrosity clipped him under the chin as thanks for his efforts.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The miko stared at him, bewilderment clear in her eyes as he flew alongside and Rin’s giggles pealed through the wind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A slight queasiness simmered at the bottom of his stomach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Crush, is it?...</span>
  </em>
</p>
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